Many thanks to Bill Moore, Linda Teather, Ann Rockley, our other attendees, our wonderful producer for this program, Jennifer Jones, and our fantastic guests Jill Swenson and Katherine Brodt. Your ❤️s, comments, and the ensuing conversation are a gift that helps bring this recording to the attention of others.
Today’s guests, Jill Swenson of Memory, Time, History on Lake of the Woods, and Katherine Brodt of Diary of a Historian, shared their distinct yet parallel stories of “place.”
Jill Swenson & Lake of the Woods
Jill spoke about American history through the narrow lens of land on Lake of the Woods in the context of two families: one immigrant, one Indigenous. Here, the tale starts with her mother’s passing and an unfolding rediscovery of the history behind the land she knew as a child along the Lake of the Woods in the “chimney” region of Minnesota. She describes initiating this effort with the viewpoint of a journalist, and how the story slowly became deeply personal, a topic she takes up in her memoir, “Land of the Everlasting Sky.” Learn more about the book.
During her question-and-answer period, our conversation wandered into topics of land, acknowledgment, and prejudice. This is the Mapping Prejudice site at the University of Minnesota that Jill referenced.
Katherine Brodt & an 1890s Home on Vinalhaven, Maine
As Katherine picks up the thread, we get a very different sense of place. She explained how she began researching the home during the COVID lockdowns. She’s wanted to find the deed for the 1890s home as a gift for her parents. The home near a granite quarry on Vinalhaven, Maine, had been in her family since the 1960s. Finding the deed was just the start. Exploring public records led her down a rabbit hole of discoveries.
Though they’re not her ancestors, Katherine feels a unique connection to the previous residents through their shared home. In her talk, she describes touching the railing the family touched so many times, or considering the lives that passed in the home, the funerals celebrated in the parlor.
Read more of these stories in Katherine’s publication:
Are YOU Ready to Step Up?
Have you thought about a story you might like to share on the Speakers’ Corner? Jennifer is currently filling her speaking calendar for 2027. Do you have a story that you’re eager to share with an interested and engaged audience? If you’re interested, please complete the form to join the speakers’ queue. You can also message Jennifer to let her know you’re interested.
You can always thank Jennifer and her guests, Jill Swenson and Katherine Brodt by sharing this post with friends and family you think may be interested or inspired to tell their own stories.
To join us for another of these programs, please visit the Projectkin Events calendar. All events are free and available to everyone online thanks to the generous support of our patrons. Learn more.
All About That Place 2026
Close to the end of the program, I mentioned the upcoming series “All About That Place,” which Projectkin will co-sponsor this year to together with the UK-based Society of Genealogists, Society for One-Place Studies, and the British Association for Local History. If you are interested in this topic, please join us! Stay tuned for more about Projectkin’s effort in the coming weeks. You can see last year’s program at Projectkin.org/aatp, and learn more about this year’s series at the Society of Genealogists’ special program page:
